Introduction

This unit,
Building Performance Matters (BPM), was developed by the Florida
Solar Energy Center&reg as a pilot project for Rebuild America’s
Energy $mart Schools program.

Building
Performance Matters consists of two primary sections: (1) background
information and concepts and (2) a school lighting audit. The background
information section includes an overview of energy, heat transfer mechanisms,
building systems, energy efficiency, and renewable/nonrenewable energy
sources. In the second section, an introduction to energy auditing prepares
students to preform a simple lighting audit of a school building based
on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting in the Library
materials. Students conduct a simple energy audit, analyze data, and prepare
an action plan with recommended energy improvements based on their findings.

All of the
activities are inquiry-based and have been aligned to the National Science
Standards. Content and process are evaluated using assessments that require
the students to apply scientific concepts and principles. All activities
follow the scientific process.

Also included
in Building Performance Matters are pretests and posttests, teacher
information materials, and student worksheets. FSEC staff will be actively
involved with the implementation of the project with phone support to
teachers.

National
Science Standards Integration

Specific
standards are included with each lesson in the Building Performance
Matters unit. While the standards associated with each lesson are
the primary standards for that lesson, other standards may be applicable.
An overview of the National Science Standards applicable to BPM
are located in the Standards
section. Complete
standards for each lesson are included with the lesson.

Learning
Objectives and Criterion-Referenced Tests

There
are five primary objectives for this unit. They address individual concepts
and ideas as well as the relationships among the concepts.

Each
objective has a test item included so students can be evaluated on the
content. The test items can be used as pretests and/or posttests. Each
test item has criteria that should be used to evaluate the test item.
For example, when students are asked to write an essay, the criteria
for evaluating the student’s essay is included. The objectives
and corresponding test items are located in the Learning
Objectives and Tests section.

Testing
Blueprint

The blueprint
below shows the weighting of each of the five instructional objectives
in the unit. The middle column shows the how much each objective will
be weighted on the final test. The last column gives the number of instructional
days allotted for each objective. The number of instructional days equals
more than 12 because some objectives span multiple lessons. In addition
to the 12 instructional days, there will be one test day.

Objective

%
of Grade

#
of Instructional Days/
Lesson #s

1: Concept
Matching

20

5
/ 2,3,7,8,9

2: Concept
Relationships

20

2
/ 2,3

3: Building
Systems

20

3
/ 3,4,5

4: Energy
Resources

15

1
/ 6

5: Lighting
Case Study

25

5
/ 7,8,9

Total

100

12 instructional
days

Resources,
Equipment and Materials

A
complete list of all resources, equipment and materials used in Lessons
1-9 in the BPM unit can be accessed from the link below. Individual lesson
plans also provide a list specific to that lesson.